Cars

At the outset of World War II, as American automobile factories were switching from making cars to making tanks, planes, jeeps, and munitions, a few independent car companies remained in production.

The Caterham 7 Blackbird was launched in front of the world’s automotive press on July 8, 1999, at the F1 Circuit in Portugal, and the performance from this 1000cc sports car was amazing. 

In 1961, Chevrolet introduced the Corvair 95 Greenbriar van and Rampside pickup. One Corvair that largely went unnoticed was the Corphibian prototype.

The Farmobil was designed by German agricultural giant Fahr (now Deutz-Fahr) as a light roadgoing truck/tractor. It was to have a maximum weight of 1000kg, a 180cm wheelbase, 140cm track, manual transmission, a PTO (power take-off), and a top speed of at least 80kph.

The Citroën “Traction Avant” (means front drive) was introduced in 1934 as the 7A; the 15-Six model was introduced in 1938, and was a radically different concept from the cars Citroën had been producing.

This bare chassis gives an unrestricted view of the inner workings of the famous Citroën 2CV, or “Deux Chevaux”, including its longitudinal suspension, air-cooled 602cc engine, unusual shifter linkage, and the in-board front disc brakes.

As far back as the early 1930s, Citroën teamed with Yacco, an oil company in France, for endurance testing on Citroën automobiles. These cars were tested at Montlhéry, a track outside Paris.